Credible vs credulous
Credible describes something or someone easy to believe and trust. Credulous describes a person who believes things too easily and so is easy to fool.
Credible and believable both end in ble.
credible adjective
Likely to be true and easy to believe, or able to be trusted.
- The detective dismissed the suspect's explanation as barely credible.
- Researchers cited only credible journals when building their literature review.
credulous adjective
Believing things too easily, so that you are easy to fool.
- A credulous public bought thousands of bottles of the so-called miracle tonic.
- Only a very credulous person would send money to a stranger online.
Watch out
- Credulous can also describe a story or report that shows too little doubt, because it accepts a claim too easily. It never means believable: that is credible.The magazine ran yet another credulous story about a diet that melts fat overnight.
Test yourself
The police found the witness blank because her story matched the video.
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credible. Her story is believable and trustworthy, so credible.
The scammer looked for blank people who would believe anything.
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credulous. These people believe too easily, so credulous.
We need a blank source before we print this news.
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credible. A source that can be trusted is credible.
My blank little brother believed the moon was made of cheese.
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credulous. He believes things too easily, so credulous.
Full entries: crediblecredulous